Wise County Plant

Dominion Resources has proposed a 585 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Wise County in southwest Virginia. AEP, Virginia Municipal Electric Association #1, and Blue Ridge Power have also invested in the project. This proposed plant, referred to as the Wise County Plant, grew out of a 2004 Virginia General Assembly initiative, sponsored by Virginia State Senator William Wampler.

The plant would be located on the Virginia City reclaimed surface coal mine site, and use Virginia coal and waste coal to fuel a circulating fluidized-bed boiler. In July 2007, Dominion Resources filed an application with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC); it hopes to win full regulatory approval of the project by April 2008.

On Sept. 10, 2007, the Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a legal challenge to Dominion’s SCC application, and – together with several other groups – launched a campaign against the project on Sept. 25. Blacksburg, Charlottesville, and Arlington County have passed resolutions opposing the project, and numerous Virginia newspapers have published editorials condemning it. On Nov. 15, 2007, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a draft air permit for the project; the DEQ held a public hearing on the draft permit on Dec. 10, at which over 100 residents expressed opposition to the proposed plant.

On Nov. 30, 2007, the Virginia Air Pollution Board voted 3-1 to request that the utility propose a more environmentally sound project – but did not make any binding decision, and did not specify what alternative project Dominion should adopt. A Dec. 2007 U.S. Forest Service filing with the Virginia DEQ urged Dominion to cut emissions from the proposed plant.

On Dec. 18, 2007, Dominion made a deal with the DEQ and the U.S. Forest Service, agreeing that it would either cut SO2 emissions at the Wise County plant or other plants in the region, or purchase SO2 credits from other companies. A hearing before the Virginia SCC was held on Jan. 8, 2008.

On March 31st, 2008, the SCC approved construction for Dominion's facility.

On April 18, 2008, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), representing Appalachian Voices, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Sierra Club and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, filed a notice of appeal with the Supreme Court of Virginia, challenging the State Corporation Commission's (SCC) ruling that grants Dominion a Certificate of Need to build the plant. SELC argues that the statute upon which the SCC relied violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, therefore, the SCC ruling is void and should be overturned.

On May 9, 2008, activists delivered a petition to block the power plant to Dominion's annual shareholder meeting. The document contained 42,400 signatures and stretched a mile long.

On June 25, 2008, the Virginia state Air Pollution Control Board voted 5-0 to approve the final permits required to begin construction on the conventional coal plant, formally named the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center. The plant will release over 9,000 tons of pollutants and 5.3 million tons of carbon dioxide into the environment every year under the approved permits. According to a statement released by Dominion, the plant is targeted to begin commercial operations by 2012.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) will challenge the approved air pollution permit in court, stating "the permit as finalized still fails to meet the federally required maximum controls for the neurotoxin mercury and 60 other hazardous air pollutants".

SELC also states that "by failing to require Dominion to use more advanced methods of burning coal that might prepare the plant to control its carbon dioxide emissions, the permits fail to address the approximately 5.37 million tons of carbon dioxide the plant would emit annually.  The Clean Air Act requires strong controls for regulated pollutants emitted by power plants; the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year (Massachusetts v. EPA) that carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, is such a regulated pollutant".

On June 30, 2008, 20 Activists with Blue Ridge Earth First! and Mountain Justice Summer blockaded the entrance to Dominion Resources' corporate headquarters to protest the company's plan to build the plant. Four protesters formed a human chain with their hands encased in containers of hardened cement and a fifth dangled by a climber's harness from the Lee Bridge footbridge. After several hours police made there way through the miles of backed up traffic to cut the activists out of the lockboxes and barrels. The climber came down on his own. Police also detained eight others standing on the sidewalks supporting the lockdown team. 13 in total were arrested. .

Early morning on September 15, 2008 around 50 peaceful protesters entered the construction site of the Wise County Plant. Twenty protesters locked their bodies to eight large steel drums, two of which have operational solar panels affixed to the top that illuminated a banner reading "renewable jobs to renew Appalachia." In addition to those locked to the construction site, over 25 protesters from across the country convened in front of the construction site holding a 10'x30' banner, which said "we demand a clean energy future." Eleven were arrested.

On January 1, 2009, Dominion implemented a rate increase for its Virginia customers to help pay for the plant. The rate adjustment will raise bills by $1.53 for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity customers use, which translates to an increase of $1.84 per month for the average customer. The increase will subsidize $83 million in financing costs for the plant during 2009. Dominion made no announcement about the rate change.

In March 2009, the Wise Energy for Virginia Coalition released a study prepared by Abt Associates concerning the economic viability of the Dominion plant. The study found that opting for energy efficiency programs would cost ratepayers less than the new plant, and would be significantly more beneficial to the state economy. The analysis concluded that the plant would raise electricity rates for Virginia customers, particularly in light of probable carbon emissions legislation, whereas an energy efficiency alternative would actually lower rates. In addition, the study estimated that the health impacts of increased pollutants emitted by the plant would cost the state between $16 million and $52 million per year.

On April 17, 2009, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled to confirm the 'certificate of need' granted by the State Corporation Commission to Dominion Power. The Clean Air Act claims brought by SELC are set for trial on July 31, 2009.

On August 10, 2009, Richmond Circuit Judge Margaret P. Spencer revoked the plant's permit, ruling that the Air Pollution Control Board should have set a firm limit for the plant's mercury emissions. The board did set a mercury limit, but the permit allowed for a looser limit if the plant was unable to meet the requirement. The decision means that the board will have to create a stricter permit for the plant, which is already under construction.

On September 2, 2009, the Virginia DEQ approved an amended air permit for the plant, including what could be the most stringent mercury emissions limits for any coal plant in the U.S. According to Cale Jaffe, an attorney for Southern Environmental Law Center, the mercury limit was originally set at 72 pounds of mercury emissions per year, but the limit in the new permit is just 4.5 pounds per year -- a 94 percent reduction. The new permit also removed a provision that would have allowed the mercury limit to be loosened if the plant had trouble meeting it. Dominion Generation CEO David A. Christian said he believed the air permit may be "the toughest ever issued."

As of October 2009, construction on the plant was about 40 percent complete. Commercial operation is expected to begin by summer 2012. As of July 2011, the plant is more than 88 percent complete. Initial trials are scheduled in September. The plant will also use up to 20 percent biomass for its fuel.

Project Details
Sponsors: Dominion Resources, AEP, Virginia MEA #1, Blue Ridge Power Location: Virginia City, Wise County, VA Capacity: 585 MW Type: Circulating fluidized bed Projected in service: 2012 Status: Under Construction

Financing

 * Citigroup
 * JP Morgan Chase
 * Goldman Sachs
 * Lehman Brothers

Citizen Groups

 * Wise Energy for Virginia
 * Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Kathy Selvage, samsva [at] gmail.com
 * Appalachian Voices, outreach [at] appvoices.org
 * Virginia Sierra Club, Glen Besa, glen.besa [at] sierraclub.org
 * Southern Environmental Law Center, webmaster [at] selcva.org
 * Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Paul Burman, paul [at] chesapeakeclimate.org
 * Co-op America, Yochi Zakai yochi [at] coopamerica.org
 * The Clinch Coalition, Diana Withen dwithen [at] wise.k12.va.us
 * Blue Ridge Earth First!

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Virginia and coal
 * United States and coal
 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2007
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2008
 * State-by-state guide to information on coal in the United States (or click on the map)